Review by Maia Dueck
PUB: October 10, 2023
Pages: 208
Age Range: 8-12 years
ISBN: 9780553536812
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Children’s Middle Grade Fiction, Historical Fiction
Hardcover: $22.99
“Little goose, I know how difficult things have been since your mother died,” he said a few minutes later. “I have been thinking tonight about how to help you. At first, I thought that keeping up your familiar routine here at home would be best. We’d already had so much change. But now I’ve come to the conclusion that the solution to your great unhappiness likely does not lie in this house. There is still too much sadness in it, and I think that you need lightness—and life.”
Alice had no idea what he meant, but she tilted her face up and looked at him while he talked.
“I have just had a rather unusual idea,” Mr. Atherton said. “But it would involve an adventure.”
I’d describe Lesley M.M. Blume’s delightful novel, first and foremost, as whimsical, though charming and heartwarming are close contenders for second place.
Beginning in New York City in 1927, Alice Atherton’s Grand Tour follows Alice, a 10-year-old girl whose curiosity has been dampened by the recent loss of her mother. In an effort to help Alice regain her zest for life, her father sends her overseas to France to stay with his eccentric friends, Mr. and Mrs. Murphy, their three children, and their pet monkey, Mistigris. In the seaside town of Antibes, surrounded by the Murphy’s fruit orchard and the blue Mediterranean, Alice slowly begins to heal. Determined to introduce her to a new way of living, Mr. and Mrs. Murphy provide Alice and their children with an unconventional education over the course of the summer. Through lessons taught by a series of guest teachers – including Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway, and Scott Fitzgerald, Alice learns how to open herself up to the joys of living and experiencing community, family, and friendship again.
Alice wasn’t the only one who learned alongside this book. As a reader, I experienced each new “teacher” and their life lessons right there with her. Even between visits from extraordinary instructors, the children’s day-to-day adventures were amply amusing, expanding the scope of the novel by immersing readers in the seaside environment. This book moves forward at an energetic pace, rarely dragging or slowing unnecessarily, and delicately handles topics of grief and loss at an age appropriate level. It also opens young readers up to world history by looking at certain events through the eyes of famous figures living at that time. Whether the characters were fishing with Hemingway or performing in Serge Diaghilev’s ballet, there was always something new to be learned and experienced – even if it was something they didn’t expect. Each character feels unique with their own wants, talents, and skills, which made the arrival of new teachers exciting as I wondered what lesson they would provide for each individual character.
Infused with warmth throughout, this book subtly informs and teaches; as Alice learns, the lesson is often discovered without knowing a lesson was being taught. That being said, the ensemble cast sometimes detracted from Alice’s main character narrative. The addition of more solo moments or active decisions on her part might have improved the sense that she was driving the story, rather than moving from teacher to teacher, or watching the story unfold from afar. However, Alice had an endearing and curious perspective that made it easy to follow the story through her eyes and empathize with her point of view. She was a refreshingly tentative, shy character who grew in confidence throughout, without losing the heart and sweetness that will initially draw readers towards her.
All in all, this was a short and sweet read that will introduce young readers to history and the lives and perspectives of several influential, real-life and long-dead artists, seen through the lens of a young, curious protagonist. I would highly recommend it to both children and parents seeking to both entertain and teach middle grade children and, perhaps, go on an adventure themselves.
Maia Dueck is an avid reader and writer currently enrolled in the UBC Creative Writing program with an interest in Children’s and YA Fiction as well as Screenwriting. Her favorite trope is probably enemies-to-lovers.
YOUNG ADULTING 